A Journal of Humor and Verbal Anarchy

 
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In the Lacanian account of the origins of our sense of self a critical event occurs during infancy. During this "mirror phase" infants grasp the fact that there is a world, and others, beyond them. This awareness comes to us from outside, an image of ourselves as an individual is built up from the feedback we receive from others. The very act of seeing ourselves as others see us necessitates a form of splitting, a fragmentation of the unity we have experienced hitherto. Our mourning for this lost unity, that which we seem to lack (although it was never truly there) stays with us for all our lives: although we recognise our lack is irreversible we search for it still.
It may be said that our capacity to look, and to see ourselves through the eyes of others, is at the core of our psychological formation. The scopophilic drive is a constituent of the polymorphous sexuality of the infant, one which is gradually "trained" and normalised but one which may become fixated into a perversion, producing obsessive voyeurs and Peeping Toms, whose only sexual satisfaction can come from watching, in an active controlling sense, an objectified other. " --Derek Baldwin
"In current Society a certain amount of voyeurism is considered normal, such as watching x-rated movies, as well as graphic magazines. You may have even been sexually aroused when you noticed by accident someone who was undressing, naked, or having sex. However, the key factor here is that unless you seek out these experiences, you are not a true voyeur" Disorder Information Sheet - PsychNet-UK Psychobabble? Every time you pop an x-rated video into the dvd player, every time you surf adult content on the web, you are "seeking out these experiences."


Voyeurism

The Oxford Dictionary defines a voyeur as "a person who derives gratification from surreptitiously watching sexual acts or objects; a peeping Tom; a person who takes a morbid interest in sordid sights". For Lacan, voyeurism is defined through scopophilia which includes both exhibitionism and voyeurism. Scopophilic individuals for Lacanians are classified as clinical perverts. Within this school of thought it is also believed that the structure of perversion is predominately male. Only in exceptional cases could a female be classified as a true pervert. Voyeuristic behavior however can be experienced and enjoyed by all of us to differing degrees.

The idea of the fragmented body was one of the earliest concepts developed by Lacan in association with the mirror stage. This is the moment in the child’s development when they see their body as a whole in the specular register, but their own perception is one of disunity with the image. This time produces great trauma for the child as it is trying to gain mastery over its body. This stage is quickly passed but the trauma of it can reemerge in later life. The child moves through this period by the formation of the ego. This is achieved by a process of identification with the specular image outside of the body. When this happens the individual's ego is formed, based on the alienation process. However, the individual is left 'covering' a lack of completeness in themselves through the conception of the ego. In other words the ego functions as an agency of deception by telling the individual that they are whole and complete. The experience of the Fragmented Body can result in great anxiety and aggression. For Lacan the human continues through their life constantly oscillating between their image, which is alien to themselves, and their real body which is uncoordinated and in pieces. Many symptoms are in response to the oscillation between these two camps. This sense of fragmentation expresses itself in images of castration, mutilation, dismemberment and combustion of the body, which can be expressed in dreams, ones analysis and in the way we might lead our lives.

The pervert is the person who attempts to take sexual pleasure to the limit in order to achieve the ultimate jouissance. The French term volonte-de-jouissance meaning 'will to enjoy' is often used to describe perversion. This is based on the premise that the individual's enjoyment is derived from the fantasy of a supposed 'other' watching. This is then coupled with the fantasy that they are the instrument of the 'other's' supposed enjoyment. The ‘other’ is the reflection of the projected self, the ego.

"With the proliferation of camera cell phones, Web cams and affordable surveillance devices, we have become a culture that promotes voyeurism." Kathy Frank




Comments invited at: ezrakidder@gmail.com - Peace, Ezra at 5:38 AM